You (Time Person of the Year)

"You" were chosen in 2006 as Time magazine's Person of the Year. This award recognized the millions of people who anonymously contribute user-generated content to (including ), YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and the multitudes of other websites featuring user contribution.

While the status had been given before to inanimate objects, with the personal computer being the "Machine of the Year" for 1982, as well as collections of people or an abstract representative of a movement, the choice of "You" attracted criticism from commentators in publications such as The Atlantic for being too much of a pop culture gimmick. A New York Daily News article named the 2006 award naming one of the ten most controversial "Person of the Year" moments in the history of Time. However, the news-magazine experienced generally successful sales.

While most earlier choices for "Person of the Year" have been historically important individuals, some of them rather than internationally popular (Adolf Hitler was 1938's "Man of the Year", and Ayatollah Khomeini won in 1979), a few were inanimate. The personal computer was the "Machine of the Year" for 1982, while the "Endangered Earth" was the "Planet of the Year" for 1988. Collections of people as well as a symbolic representative of multiple individuals had also won the award before; for example, "U.S. Scientists" were named "Men of the Year" in 1960.

Similar media awards had already recognized the growing significance of online community and user-generated content: "You!" were ranked first in Business 2.0's list of "50 people who matter now" in July 2006; while ABC News had listed bloggers as "People of the Year" for 2004.

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Wikipedia